This application claims priority to Italian Application No. PD99000218 filed Oct. 5, 1999, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a pouch-like container with faces made of materials having different consistencies and/or characteristics and to a method for manufacturing it.
According to the state of the art, pouch-shaped containers are manufactured by coupling two sheets of a flexible material which is usually relatively rigid in order to give consistency to the resulting container.
These pouch-like containers usually do not have an aesthetically valid appearance, and the use of materials which both have considerable strength does not allow, for example, to show and/or display the contained product unless very expensive raw materials are used.
According to other technologies, sachets are formed by using lightweight materials in sheet form, but such sachets do not have a shape of their own and are poorly suited for the containment of many kinds of product.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a container which has a shape of its own and is relatively strong.
A further object is to provide a pouch-like container having two faces which have different functions.
Another object is to provide a container which assumes a shape of its own during filling with the product.
Another object is to provide a container which can be obtained easily by means of conventional packaging machines.
Another object is to obtain an already-filled container with a single operation on a single machine.
Still another object is to replace a composite package, constituted by parts which give and maintain a shape and parts that contain and preserve the product, with a single container which performs the same functions.
These and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a pouch-like container with faces made of material having different consistencies and/or characteristics, characterized in that it consists of a pouch obtained by heat-sealing two sheets of flexible material along a predefined contour, a first sheet being constituted by a tough and solid material and a second sheet being constituted by a lightweight and preferably transparent material.
Conveniently, the tougher sheet has ribs along lines which determine, with the deformation produced by filling, the shape of the container to be obtained.
The present invention also relates to the method for obtaining the container, which is characterized by the following operating steps:
a) preparing a roll of relatively heavy and tough material for constituting a first sheet, with uniformly spaced ribs;
b) coupling, with a packaging machine, said first sheet to a second sheet of a much lighter flexible material along two longitudinal lateral lines, with reference to the advancement direction in the packaging machine, and a transverse base line;
c) filling the open pouch with the product to be contained, optionally deforming, with auxiliary means, the heavier sheet along the ribs;
d) closing the filling mouth by heat-sealing.